Monday, 31 October 2011

Recently, a friend visited the US and helped me to pick up another three Lancome Color Design Eye Brightening All-in-one 5 Shadow & Liner Palettes: Mauve Cherie, Violet Sweetheart and Rose Coquette. Rose Coquette and Violet Sweetheart, which were part of the Doll Lashes collection for fall, come in cases with a lovely rose motif across the lidRose Coquette (US$48) includes a pale beige with micro flecks of iridescent shimmer, a bright metallic pink, a matte muddy brown, a shimmery taupe and a matte charcoal black. The fresh bright pink is more vibrant with better color payoff than the pink shade in the Pink Envy Color Design Palette. The beige shade reminded me of MAC Vapour. It gives a soft dreamy finish without looking chalky. The taupe has a lovely lustrous glow while the charcoal black shade is well-pigmented and makes a good liner shade or for adding a touch of smokiness. The dull brown shade is the least interesting of the lot. Using Too Faced Shadow Insurance as the base, I used the broad sponge applicator to apply the beige shade over the browbone area, the pink shade on the inner half of upper the lid and the silvery taupe shade on the outer half of the upper lid and along the lower lashline. I used the charcoal black shade to liner the upper lashline and the flat brown shade in the outer half of the crease. I finished by lining the upper lashline with Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Sequins and applying Visee Lash Upswing Volume mascara BK001. Aside from being very easy to apply and blend, the eyeshadows also lasted well over more than 8 hours of wear without fallout or creasing. I'm a big fan of the Color Design palettes as the slim lightweight compacts are very convenient for travel and the shades are usually very easy to work with and well-coordinated without being boring. For the rest of the look, I used Cargo Foundation Oil-Free F-20 topped with Paul & Joe Ornamental Face Powder, Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish Mineral Cheekcolor in Sunkissed Rose, Addiction Lipgloss in Jealousys, Za Ever Brows BR21 and Fred Farrugia Concealer 05. The Paul & Joe Ornamental Pressed Powder (S$67; 7g) is a light beige finishing powder with two shimmery pinkish beige strips for a glowy effect. It makes the skin look more polished and smooth but doesn't provide much oil control. The micro-sparkles are only visible when one looks very closely. List of ingredientsThe Addiction lipgloss in Jealousys is from the Aurora Reflection fall collection. It looks like a deep grape in the tube but on the lips, it applies with just the barest hint of colour. I was disappointed in this as it looks basically like clear lipgloss on me. Nevertheless, it does keep the lips well-hydrated without feeling sticky and it lasts for up to four hours on my lips.

1. Addiction which has excellent eyeshadows and lipglosses. I also like their Tinted Moisturiser. Addiction is only available in Japan and you can find it at Isetan in Shinjuku, Seibu in Shibuya and Mitsukoshi in Ginza.

2. Visee which can be found in most drugstores. This is also not available in Singapore. They have great eyeshadow palettes and you can usually get their products at up to 30% discount in larger drugstore chains like Matsumoto Kiyoshi.

3. Love Clover has very cute packaging and is also not available in Singapore.

Canmake, Heroine Make and Dolly Wink are quite a bit cheaper in Japan than Singapore.

If you are flying through Narita Airport, RMK and Lunasol are 20% cheaper at the Narita Airport dutyfree than the usual retail price.